2015–16 Welsh Premier League
# 2015–16 Welsh Premier League

The 2015–16 Welsh Premier League (known as the Dafabet Welsh Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season of the Welsh Premier League, the highest football league within Wales since its establishment in 1992. The New Saints were the defending champions.

Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league was split into two groups at the end of January 2016 – the top six and the bottom six.

## Teams

Cefn Druids and Prestatyn Town were relegated out of the Welsh Premier League the previous season, while Llandudno were promoted as winners of the Cymru Alliance and Haverfordwest County were promoted as winners of Welsh Football League Division One. It will be Llandudno's debut campaign in the league.

### Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| Aberystwyth Town | Aberystwyth | Park Avenue | 5,000 |
| Airbus UK Broughton | Broughton | The Airfield | 1,600 |
| Bala Town | Bala | Maes Tegid | 3,000 |
| Bangor City | Bangor | Nantporth | 3,000 |
| Carmarthen Town | Carmarthen | Richmond Park | 3,000 |
| Connah's Quay Nomads | Connah's Quay | Deeside Stadium | 1,500 |
| Haverfordwest County | Haverfordwest | Bridge Meadow Stadium | 2,000 |
| Llandudno | Llandudno | Park MBi Maesdu | 1,013 |
| Newtown | Newtown | Latham Park | 5,000 |
| Port Talbot Town | Port Talbot | Victoria Road | 6,000 |
| Rhyl | Rhyl | The Corbett Sports Stadium | 3,000 |
| The New Saints | Oswestry | Park Hall | 2,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Head Coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsors |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Aberystwyth | Ian Hughes | Stuart Jones | Nike | Cambrian Tyres |
| Airbus UK | Andy Preece | Andy Jones | Macron | Gardner Aerospace |
| Bala | Colin Caton | Conall Murtagh | Joma | Aykroyd's |
| Bangor | Neville Powell | Leon Clowes | Macron | Dafydd Hardy (home) Anglesey Sea Zoo (away) |
| Carmarthen | Mark Aizlewood | Kyle Bassett | Macron | Jeff White (home) Natwest Cymru (away) |
| Connah's Quay Nomads | Andy Morrison | George Horan | Macron | Driving Force |
| Haverfordwest County | David Hughes | Dale Griffiths | Kappa | West Wales Properties.co.uk |
| Llandudno | Alan Morgan | Tom Dix | Adidas | The UPVC Outlet |
| Newtown | Chris Hughes | Matthew Cook | Givova | NEO/Elephant & Castle Hotel |
| Port Talbot | Andy Dyer | Liam McCreesh | Macron | Blanco's |
| Rhyl | Gareth Owen | Dean Keates | Adidas | VanTruck |
| TNS | Carl Darlington | Paul Harrison | Legea | PlanetHippo |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | The New Saints (C) | 32 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 72 | 24 | +48 | 64 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Bala Town | 32 | 15 | 12 | 5 | 48 | 27 | +21 | 57 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Llandudno | 32 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 53 | 46 | +7 | 52 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Connah's Quay Nomads (O) | 32 | 15 | 3 | 14 | 50 | 42 | +8 | 48 | Qualification for the European competition play-offs |
| 5 | Newtown | 32 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 46 | 54 | −8 | 42 | Qualification for the European competition play-offs |
| 6 | Airbus UK Broughton | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 46 | 55 | −9 | 42 | Qualification for the European competition play-offs |
| 7 | Carmarthen Town | 32 | 14 | 5 | 13 | 45 | 52 | −7 | 47 | Qualification for the European competition play-offs |
| 8 | Aberystwyth Town | 32 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 51 | 47 | +4 | 46 | |
| 9 | Bangor City | 32 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 49 | 52 | −3 | 45 | |
| 10 | Port Talbot Town (R) | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 39 | 56 | −17 | 39 | Relegation to Welsh Division One |
| 11 | Rhyl | 32 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 36 | 50 | −14 | 27 | |
| 12 | Haverfordwest County (R) | 32 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 57 | −30 | 21 | Relegation to Welsh Division One |

* ↑ Teams played each other twice (22 matches), before the league was split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last 10 matches.
* ↑ The New Saints qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2015–16 Welsh Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.
* 1 2 Teams played for a spot in the Europa League first qualifying round.
* 1 2 Rhyl were spared from relegation as Port Talbot Town failed to obtain a FAW domestic licence.

## Results

Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups – the top six and the bottom six.

### Matches 1–22

| Home \ Away | ABE | AIR | BAL | BAN | CMR | CQN | HAV | LND | NTW | PTA | RHL | TNS |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Aberystwyth Town | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 0–4 |
| Airbus UK Broughton | 2–0 | | 2–0 | 1–4 | 5–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Bala Town | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Bangor City | 2–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Carmarthen Town | 0–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–6 |
| Connah's Quay Nomads | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 4–0 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| Haverfordwest County | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–4 |
| Llandudno | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–4 |
| Newtown | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 0–3 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Port Talbot Town | 4–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | | 0–3 | 0–1 |
| Rhyl | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 0–0 |
| The New Saints | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | |

## UEFA Europa League play-offs

Teams who finished in positions fourth to seventh at the end of the regular season participated in play-offs to determine the third participant for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, who will qualify for the first qualifying round.

